THE COMPARISON OF LONELINESS, SELF-DIFFERENTIATION AND NEUROTICISM IN INDIVIDUALS WITH AND WITHOUT ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT

The body and concerns about it are one of the most important concerns in the
lives of individuals, especially young people. The purpose of this study was to compare feelings of
loneliness, self-differentiation, and neurotic symptoms in individuals with and without orthodontic
treatment.
Materials & Methods: The method of this study is causal-comparative in a cross-sectional type. The
statistical population of this study included all referrals who were referred to dental centers of Ahvaz
from January to March of 2019. The statistical sample of this study consisted of 80 individuals (two
groups of 40 persons) from the statistical population who were selected by available single-stage cluster
random sampling and their age range was 19 to 40 years. Data were collected using Di Tomasso's
Loneliness Questionnaire, Brennan & Bast, Shortened Self-Differentiation Questionnaire, and Neo-PIR
Revised Short Symptom Inventory.
Results: Findings of multivariate analysis of variance showed that there was a significant difference
between individuals with and without orthodontic demand in loneliness (F=9/6, p<0/001) and its
components, differentiation (F=8/9, p<0/001) and its components, and symptoms of neuroticism (F=9/1,
p<0/001); but there was no significant difference in social loneliness (F=2/1, p<0/1) and emotional cutoff
(F=1/08, p<0/3) between individuals with and without orthodontic demand.
Conclusion: It is recommended that by screening and identifying orthodontic clients, people who are
mentally challenged and physically in need are identified as being in need of orthodontic treatment and
that they can receive psychological supervision and treatment